"1,167 turn out for gay parade"

1,167
turn out for gay
parade
Organizers say
ICA initiative was
attendance booster
By Marianne Flagg
The Idaho Statesman
Idaho's gay community
cheered, sang and marched in
celebration of their pride Satur­day.
And they tried mightily to
ignore a raucous band who
urged them to go "back in the
closet."
A crowd of 1,167 - more than
twice the size of last year's gay
parade - gathered at noon on
the Statehouse steps to hear
messages of unity at the 5th
annual Lesbian, Gay and Bisex­ual
Freedom Day. The group,
which included heterosexual
supporters, then marched to
The Grove for an afternoon of
food and entertainment.
Some rally and parade partic­ipants
held hands or were arm-­in-
arm with their partners and
exchanged hugs with friends.
One speaker was 75-year-old
actress Peg Phillips, who plays
Ruth Anne on the CBS drama ­comedy
"Northern Exposure."
Phillips also is the mother of
Elizabeth Greene, minister of
Boise's Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship.
" I've lived through and
fought through marches for civ­il
rights, the McCarthy era, all
the attempts to enslave people
of our country," Phillips said.
"So far, none of them have
worked. Now they've got their
hooks into another group."
The rally and parade were
peaceful. Parade leaders hand­ed
out stickers to participants
to get a crowd count.
Leaders credited a proposed
anti-gay initiative for boosting
turnout. If the Idaho Citizens
Alliance gathers 32,061 valid
signatures by July 8, the initia­tive
will be on the ballot. It
would prevent gays from being
included as a class that could
ask for protection from dis­crimination.
Pholoo by Silvia Flores/The Idaho Statesman
Parade organizer Troy Flagg, left, welcomes supporters to the 5th annual Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual
Freedom Day at the Statehouse Saturday. Small groups of demonstrators protested the rally.
About 40 protesters stood
across the street, holding signs
or observing the event. A dozen
of them tried to disrupt the ral­ly
by shouting slurs and mak­ing
coarse sexual remarks.
Rally speakers mixed jokes
and concern.
Nationally known lesbian co­median
Robin Tyler cracked
one-liners: "Darling, if Michel­angelo
had been straight, the
Sistine Chapel would have been
wallpapered."
On a sober note, Donna Red
Wing - a national lesbian
leader who was a key foe of
Oregon's failed 1992 anti-gay
Measure 9 - urged gays and
lesbians not to let their oppo­nents
define them. And she
urged them to "come out" to
friends and family.
"When we do not define our­selves,
somebody else will," she
said. "They define us in hate
and bigotry. How do you fight
this holy war from the closet?"
Joann Jackson of Boise was
one of several in the crowd who
wore shirts or held signs that
proclaimed, "Straight but not
narrow."
"I think our society is much
too divisive," Jackson said, ex­plaining
why she attended. "If
we don't stick together, we'll be
in a world of hurt. We have no
right to deprive people of their
civil rights."
Joe Gallas, right, commander of the local Lion Regiment, leads the
freedom march alongside David Hoffenbacker of Idaho Falls, far
left, along Main Street to The Grove on Saturday.
Some protesters vocal in their opposition. Back page
What the ICA initiative says. Back page

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Full-text

1,167
turn out for gay
parade
Organizers say
ICA initiative was
attendance booster
By Marianne Flagg
The Idaho Statesman
Idaho's gay community
cheered, sang and marched in
celebration of their pride Satur­day.
And they tried mightily to
ignore a raucous band who
urged them to go "back in the
closet."
A crowd of 1,167 - more than
twice the size of last year's gay
parade - gathered at noon on
the Statehouse steps to hear
messages of unity at the 5th
annual Lesbian, Gay and Bisex­ual
Freedom Day. The group,
which included heterosexual
supporters, then marched to
The Grove for an afternoon of
food and entertainment.
Some rally and parade partic­ipants
held hands or were arm-­in-
arm with their partners and
exchanged hugs with friends.
One speaker was 75-year-old
actress Peg Phillips, who plays
Ruth Anne on the CBS drama ­comedy
"Northern Exposure."
Phillips also is the mother of
Elizabeth Greene, minister of
Boise's Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship.
" I've lived through and
fought through marches for civ­il
rights, the McCarthy era, all
the attempts to enslave people
of our country," Phillips said.
"So far, none of them have
worked. Now they've got their
hooks into another group."
The rally and parade were
peaceful. Parade leaders hand­ed
out stickers to participants
to get a crowd count.
Leaders credited a proposed
anti-gay initiative for boosting
turnout. If the Idaho Citizens
Alliance gathers 32,061 valid
signatures by July 8, the initia­tive
will be on the ballot. It
would prevent gays from being
included as a class that could
ask for protection from dis­crimination.
Pholoo by Silvia Flores/The Idaho Statesman
Parade organizer Troy Flagg, left, welcomes supporters to the 5th annual Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual
Freedom Day at the Statehouse Saturday. Small groups of demonstrators protested the rally.
About 40 protesters stood
across the street, holding signs
or observing the event. A dozen
of them tried to disrupt the ral­ly
by shouting slurs and mak­ing
coarse sexual remarks.
Rally speakers mixed jokes
and concern.
Nationally known lesbian co­median
Robin Tyler cracked
one-liners: "Darling, if Michel­angelo
had been straight, the
Sistine Chapel would have been
wallpapered."
On a sober note, Donna Red
Wing - a national lesbian
leader who was a key foe of
Oregon's failed 1992 anti-gay
Measure 9 - urged gays and
lesbians not to let their oppo­nents
define them. And she
urged them to "come out" to
friends and family.
"When we do not define our­selves,
somebody else will," she
said. "They define us in hate
and bigotry. How do you fight
this holy war from the closet?"
Joann Jackson of Boise was
one of several in the crowd who
wore shirts or held signs that
proclaimed, "Straight but not
narrow."
"I think our society is much
too divisive," Jackson said, ex­plaining
why she attended. "If
we don't stick together, we'll be
in a world of hurt. We have no
right to deprive people of their
civil rights."
Joe Gallas, right, commander of the local Lion Regiment, leads the
freedom march alongside David Hoffenbacker of Idaho Falls, far
left, along Main Street to The Grove on Saturday.
Some protesters vocal in their opposition. Back page
What the ICA initiative says. Back page